


Promises

by That_One_Yaoi_Kid



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Bloodshed, Broken Promises, Death, M/M, More depressed Carl, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-16 05:02:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11246856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_One_Yaoi_Kid/pseuds/That_One_Yaoi_Kid
Summary: “I will never forget the moment your heart stopped, and mine kept beating.”-Unknown





	Promises

The brunette ducks behind a rusting and dented Sedan, keeping his head below the windows as glass shatters above him, gunshots ringing through his ears. Grunting, he moves so the barrel of his M4 sits on the hood of the car and fires, keeping his head low. 

 

Carl counts six shots when he hears the  _ click-click  _ of the machine gun. “Damn it!” He whispers harshly, moving the M4 back as he shifts so he’s kneeling on the pavement. Taking out the empty clip, the teen tosses it aside and searches frantically for his spare, but before he can grab it, he hears a familiar grunt a few yards beside him. 

 

Carl freezes, swearing under his breath and he listens intently. He hears nothing more, but sees plenty. Simon is a corpse beside a smoldering SUV, and Negan and Dwight and standing, returning fire until Negan roars, falling back. “Fuck,” Carl mutters, “No!”

 

He springs onto his feet, ignoring the bullets whizzing past him as he sprints towards the SUV, where Negan lies. “Holy fuck!” Carl yells when he catches sight of the man, Lucille nowhere in sight as Negan clutches an Uzi to his chest. Carl finishes the stretch towards Negan, kneeling beside him and he analyzes the situation. 

 

Negan’s been shot, and badly. A large bullet wound (a shotgun possibly) just inches from where his heart is, two stab wounds in his side, and another bullet wound in his knee. Carl lets out something, a mixture of a choked sob and a sigh. “Fuck, no, no, no! I am  _ not   _ losing you damn it!” He screams, startling Negan out of whatever wounded daze he was in.

Carl swiftly places a hand on the largest wound, the other cradles Negan’s cheek. “Hey, hey, come on now, look at me.” Carl’s voice is softer, and his partner slowly looks up at him with lidded eyes and the teen feels tears collect in his eyes when he sees the pain in those warm, teddy bear eyes.

 

_ Negan laughs straight from his belly, and despite feeling his cheeks flush, Carl gives a confident smile. “I’m serious, Neegs! Quit laughing before I smack the bitch out of you!” Now it’s Carl’s turn to giggle as the man cuts him a look. _

 

_ “Hey, what did I say about your language, kid?” Carl detects some kind of warning in the man’s voice, but he doesn’t bother to back down. _

 

_ “You said to speak English, and that’s what I’m doing, fuckface.” And Carl’s giggles only continue when Negan kneels down, easily tossing Carl on his shoulder. _

 

_ “Your sass isn’t as funny as you think, baby.”  _

 

Carl presses harder on the wound, making Negan groan. “That’s it, that’s it, Negan. Eyes on me, keep your eyes on me.” There isn’t any way to save him, Carl knows that it, but he isn’t ready to admit that.

 

“C-arl,” Negan chokes out, blood crawling up his throat.

Carl shakes his head frantically, “No, no. Don’t talk, okay? Don’t talk, you’re going to be okay. You’re...gonna be okay.” A disgusting sob violently wracks through the teen’s body, his voice catching is enough for tears to collect in Negan’s eyes.

 

Carl squeezes his eye shut, bowing his head and praying, hoping, wishing this was all a dream. That this is all just some  _ sick  _  dream, a nightmare. And he can wake up at anytime, and he wants to wake up now.

 

_ Carl sits up out of bed, screaming, panting and tears cascading down his face. Negan is right there next to him, quickly wrapping his arms around the fragile body of the teen, gently placing the boy’s head in the crook of his neck as he calms the boy, hushing him and running his fingers through his hair. _

 

_ “Shh...baby, shh...it was a dream. It was all a dream, you’re alright. I promise.” The man softly kisses Carl’s temple, holding the brunette there until he falls into the oblivion of sleep. _

 

When Carl opens his eye again, reality comes crashing down on him and he wants to scream and fight it, but he can’t. He can’t fucking fight it and he knows it. 

 

When Carl looks down again, Negan is looking right back at him, his jaw twitching as if he needs to speak. The teen bites his lip harshly, tasting blood and he desperately tries to will away his tears.

 

“Ca-Carl…” Negan drawls, coughing and breathing heavily. Carl tries to remind himself to breathe, but he can’t. Breathing is so difficult when you lose the ones you love. The man underneath him brings up a bloody hand to cup his cheek, swiping his thumb around Carl’s remaining eye to wipe away his tears.

 

“Carl…” Negan chokes out the name like it’s the only word he knows. Carl moves his hand away from the hole in his partner’s chest so it rests on the other side of Negan’s face. Negan carefully runs his fingers through the brown locks of his lover. 

 

“I l-love you...I love you, so much. You’re such a little badass, Carl. An-and…” Negan clears his throat, feeling bile and blood rise. Carl surges forward suddenly and their lips collide in one last, passionate kiss.

 

They clutch each other’s faces, their hands and bodies both equally bloody, but Carl isn’t wounded. “I love you, Negan. And I always will.” Carl whispers when they finally break apart, feeling like an eternity passed between them.

 

_ Their first kiss wasn’t special. No cliche fireworks, or explosions. It wasn’t over a romantic dinner, or in a steaming shower.  _

 

_ Nope, it was over a heap of dead walkers where most of the blood happened to land on the youth and Negan was more than turned on. Carl spins on his heels to meet the leather clad man who looks like the Devil himself, caked in a nice layer of guts and blood and a shit-eating grin on his face. The teen returns the grin, strutting towards him like a predator stalking its prey. _

 

_ Negan moves forward to meet him, and the shorter of the two stands on his toes to wrap his arms around Negan’s neck and the man’s large hands settle on Carl’s hips. They lock eyes for one second before they’re diving into each other, their lips sloppily chase each other with more lust than passion. A nagging voice in the back of Carl’s head says he wants more than that, but deep down he knows better than to fight something as good as this.  _

 

Carl pulls back quickly, slinging the 1911 out of his thigh holster and aiming at some Scavenger douchebag's head, pulling the trigger and watching in sick satisfaction as the man’s body falls before moving onto another. 

 

He fires three more times, a bloody hand still clutching Negan’s face. And he turns back when he hears Negan softly grunt, and Carl watches the leader’s eyes slip shut. The teenager panics, dropping the pistol as his other hand applies pressure to the largest wound. “Negan? Negan, come on! Negan!” His voice is panicky and loud, enough for the man to groggily open his eyes, looking up at him and his eyes begin to roll back. 

 

Carl feels a wet, disgusting sob crawl up his throat. “NO! Fuck,  _ no!  _ You’re not dying on me, you’re not leaving me! YOU’RE NOT LEAVING ME, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” The brunette uses both hands to pound against Negan’s chest, blood splattering on him. 

 

Negan’s hands fall away from Carl’s face and the latter knows he’s gone, but he isn’t ready to admit it, stubborn as he is. His breathing quickens and he frantically searches around Negan’s neck for a pulse. There is none. Negan’s eyes are still open, and his teddy bear eyes are frozen in place, staring up at empty sky.

 

Carl cries, pounding on Negan’s chest again, and again, and again, until his hands are numb, but the rest of his body isn’t. “You son of a bitch! You fucking asshole!” Carl is enraged, smacking Negan’s head back and forth, ignoring the tears clouding his remaining eye.

 

“Fuck you! Fuck you, Negan! You fucking promised, you son of a bitch! YOU PROMISED!” Carl’s voice is so shrill, and broken, that the teenager can barely recognize it as his own. 

 

_ “Goddamn it, Neegs! I thought I lost your bitch ass.” Carl sighs, launching his fragile body into Negan’s arms. The man gives a breathy chuckle, wrapping his arms around the boy and places a kiss on the top of his head.  _

 

_ “Ya’ can’t get rid of me that easily, kid. I promise.”  _

 

That promise echoes in Carl’s mind as he smacks the man again, and again, and again. Now the tips of his fingers are tingling, and Carl whines, cries, and sobs, falling onto his back and he covers his face with bloody hands.

 

“You promised...you promised….you promised…” The mantra trails off, but continues in the youth’s mind as he left wrecked by the events. He becomes wrecked with emotion by the loss of someone so much more than a friend, feeling as if the world has crumbled around him, just merely missing him, but crushing Negan. 

It reminds him of when he lost his mother all those years ago. 

 

_ “You know, kid. You never did tell me what happened to your momma.” Negan deadpans as they lie in the darkness of the man’s bedroom. Carl, who was tucked under Negan’s arm, sits up with an aggravated grunt.  _

_   
_ _ “Really, man? Seriously going to bring up my dead mom after we just fucked like animals in this very bed?” He shoots the man an incredulous look, but as usual, Negan is completely and utterly serious, and Carl hates it. He gives a sad laugh, turning away. “Fuck you.” _

 

_ Negan fakes an offended gasp, which really makes Carl giggle, looking back over at the man when he says softly, “I love you, too.” _

 

_ Carl gives him a sly smile, hidden in the dark. “I hate you more.” _

_   
_ After a few more wet sobs, Carl pulls himself together for the time being. He knows the tape is temporary, and he’ll break down again. But right now he can’t worry about that. 

 

He sniffles, clambering to his feet with caution. He surveys the area, noticing some Scavengers still stand and he’s more than pissed now. Carl turns his attention to Negan’s corpse, biting his lip before bending down to pick up his gun. He cocks it slowly, aiming at Negan’s forehead, keeping his head low.

 

He stares at the man’s bloody palm, the contrast of the crimson liquid and the black pavement restores some kind of new feeling he can’t quite describe. He squeezes the trigger and whispers, “You promised.”

 

_ BANG! _

 


End file.
